Imaginative and well-considered; should please sci-fi fans as well as readers of historical fiction.
A mix of fact and fantasy in which Tecumseh, a 19th-century Shawnee warrior and chief, is aided by three aliens in the battle to protect his lands and people from European incursion.
In his debut novel, Coon merges historical detail, science fiction, literary allusion, and odd, almost poetic lines that lend a heroic tone: “They were certain the Great Spirit itself had come down among the Shawnee, housed within the body of Gahnoque so strange.” As a child, Tecumseh witnesses a buck rescue a doe and its fawns from a pack of wolves, losing its own life in the process. His father, Puckshinwa (eventually murdered by whites), tells him the deer was touched by the Great Spirit. Later, a black panther emerges from the forest to rub against Tecumseh’s hand. These two events form the core of Coon’s thematic metaphors: self-sacrifice and the connection of Tecumseh (who becomes known as “Panther Across the Sky”) to cats. Despite his hatred of whites since his father’s death, Tecumseh carries on a lifelong friendship with settler John Sackett, whom he sees as a second father, and prevents his childhood nemesis and future traitor Sakdayga from killing Sackett. After Tecumseh meets the panther, an alien spacecraft crashes on Shawnee land. The warrior rescues the occupants, who have eyes like panthers and striped black fur. With the aliens’ help, the Shawnee initially score a number of victories against the invaders, seemingly forcing them into negotiations. Sadly, even with the aid of extraterrestrials in possession of some rather impressive weapons and battle skills, like all Native American sagas, lies and treachery eventually prevail. Coon skillfully walks a fine line between historical facts and speculative fiction, weaving a fascinating tale filled with realistic, empathetic characters.
Imaginative and well-considered; should please sci-fi fans as well as readers of historical fiction.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9995758-1-9
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Fallen Leaf Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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